Hearts fined after Romanov's referees blast

Hearts have been fined £10,000 (€14,900) by the Scottish Football Association after majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov criticised the country’s referees.

The Tynecastle outfit were also warned about their future conduct after being found guilty of a disrepute charge for carrying the comments on the club’s official website.

An individual charge against Romanov was deferred by the SFA’s general purposes committee because the Lithuanian was unable to attend yesterday’s meeting.

His case will be dealt with at the next meeting of the committee in December even if he does not turn up.

The comments referred to the conduct of match officials during Hearts’ successful Tennents’ Scottish Cup run as Romanov hit out at the Scottish media.

Romanov said: “Last season, you didn’t manage to protect the Scottish Cup and gave it to Hearts, despite all the referees’ efforts and intrigues.”

Hearts have not revealed whether they will appeal against the fine but a spokeswoman today said the club would comment at some stage.

A spokesman for Romanov could not say whether the businessman would attend the next meeting because he was unaware of the date.

The SFA closed a loophole in May that had allowed Romanov to air his outspoken views with impunity because he has no official post at Tynecastle.

The resolution means every person holding authority at a club or control over the board falls under the SFA’s jurisdiction.

The Lithuanian also faces a UEFA inquiry after criticising referee Yuri Baskakov’s handling of the Champions League defeat to AEK Athens.

Hearts had two players sent off in the 3-0 defeat.